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6 Apr 2010

RECORD NUMBER OF GREENS TO CONTEST GENERAL ELECTION

Apr 6, 2010 2:39:05 PMBy Andrew Woodcock, Press Association

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A record number of Green candidates will fight the May 6 GeneralElection, the party said today.

With candidates in more than 300 constituencies, a spokesman said theGreens were "fighting to win" their first seat in the House of Commons.

Top targets are Brighton Pavilion, where party leader Caroline Lucas ishoping to become the first Green MP, and Norwich South, where candidateAdrian Ramsay is leader of the official opposition in the City Council.

The Greens are now putting the finishing touches to their electionmanifesto under the slogan "Fair is worth fighting for".

"The Greens will be offering an investment package for massivejob-creation to see off the recession once and for all, and we will showhow to pay for it," said the party spokesman.

"We'll also show how to protect and improve the NHS, and how to giveBritish pensioners the best deal on offer."

In last year's elections to the European Parliament, Greens finishedahead of Labour in the South East and South West and defeated theConservatives in cities like Brighton and Hove, Oxford, to Norwich,Liverpool and Manchester, said the spokesman.

And he added: "This year, for the first time ever, more than 300 Greencandidates will contest a UK general election. And for the first timeever, leading pollsters are predicting a Green Party breakthrough.

"In places like Brighton and Norwich, voters have become used to seeingGreens elected in large numbers, so the normal squeeze of tacticalvoting doesn't apply.

"These are cities where members of the public have seen Greencouncillors in action over many years, pursuing Green Party policiesthen winning re-election and a steady increase in council seats.

"We don't underestimate the challenge, but these are places where theGreens are fighting to win."